Dr. James Gasparine has been a fan of sports his entire life. Maybe that’s why, in his sports medicine practice, he most enjoys working with athletes and getting them back to action as soon as possible.

His expertise ranges in a variety of sports-related injuries from strains to fractures, to expertise in concussion management and osteoporosis. The most common injuries Dr. Gasparine deals with are muscle strains, fractures, concussions and osteoarthritis flare-ups.

Dr. Gasparine believes the three biggest advancements in sports medicine are the management of concussions, diagnostic ultrasounds and osteoporosis. The most rewarding part of his job is seeing his patient get back to playing the sports they love.

Outside of Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville, Dr. Gasparine enjoys weightlifting, the outdoors and playing the piano.

His favorite industry-related website is the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine.

During Dr. Gasparine’s fellowship at West Virginia University, he concentrated on nutrition and weight loss, focusing on proper diet and supplemental intake with athletes and working with wrestlers to achieve proper weight in a safe way.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) established September as Fruits and Veggies – More Matters Month. Bone and joint health is more than adding exercise or rehabilitation from an injury into your daily routine. We recently talked about the importance of bone health in a blog post, but now we want to talk about the role of your diet and bone health.

The physicians here at OAZ are all advocates of exercise and healthy living. When we include more fruits and veggies into our diet, we provide our body with vitamins and minerals, both important to our bones and muscles.

The following vitamins and minerals are found in fruits and veggies:

• Calcium: It’s essential for healthy bones and teeth and assists with normal functioning of muscles, nerves and some glands.
• Fiber: Diets rich in fiber have shown to decrease risk of coronary heart disease.
• Folate: May reduce women’s risk of having a child with a brain or spinal cord defect.
• Iron: We need iron for healthy blood and normal functioning of all cells.
• Magnesium: Necessary for healthy bones and is involved with more than 300 enzymes in your body. Inadequate amounts may result in muscle cramps.
• Potassium: Diets rich in potassium may help maintain healthy blood pressure.
• Sodium: Needed for normal cell function. Too much sodium can lead to high blood pressure.
• Vitamin A: Keeps skin and eyes healthy. Helps protect against infections.
• Vitamin C: Keeps teeth and gums healthy. Helps heal cuts and wounds.

Remember when you’re filling your plate at home or at a restaurant, the more colorful and the more texture the food has, the better!

Happy eating and for more information on Fruits and Veggies – More Matters Month check out the website here.

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As a way for healthcare consumers, referring physicians and members of our community to get to know the doctors at Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville better, we’re adding a monthly physician interview. We’ll ask our docs about themselves and the latest trends in sports medicine, sports injuries, reconstructive surgery and general orthopaedics.

Hope you enjoy the first interview with Samuel Finck, Dr. of Osteopathic Medicine.

1. What made you become interested in sports medicine?

“I became interested in sports medicine because I like sports. I played high school sports and my mother was a nurse, so I was exposed to people being taken care of when they had injuries, either in school or through my mom. I’m also a huge sports spectator and thought it would be interesting to be to be involved with sports. During my second year in residency, I searched for what NFL teams had opportunities for fellowships and earned one with the Cincinnati Bengals and Bearcats in 2009.”

2. Can you explain more about your area of expertise?  Can you talk about how the practice of sports affects the body?

“My area of expertise has to do mostly with any injury an athlete can experience – bone fractures, knee and shoulder problems. The two main joints frequently injured during sports and athletic activities was a main focus of my fellowship with the Cincinnati Bengals. Health is a big issue – getting away from the TV and getting back into fitness is huge. Many people in the state of Ohio are overweight. There needs to be more emphasis on the importance of fitness in this area. Kids should spend less time in front of the TV and go outside and play. There are more community and school programs now, and as kids get more into athletics, there are injuries and overuse problems. People of all ages who exercise can get injured, and overuse injuries, in particular, are on the rise. It’s hard to be healthy without having good joints. Sports medicine affects anyone looking to stay healthy.”

3. What are the three most common sports injuries you see in your practice? Why do you think that is?

“For the population over the age of 50, the most common injury is a rotator cuff tear. Common injuries for the younger population, ages 40 and under, include biceps tendon inflammation or degeneration and labral tears. Sixty-five percent of my practice is treating shoulder injuries. Shoulder injuries in older patients are more common because they can’t go out and do what they did when they were younger – whether it’s a form of work or sports they played. For younger patients, knee injuries such as meniscal tear and ACL injuries are the most common. Meniscal tears are also prominent in older adults because the cartilage is not as flexible as it used to be. I’ve been seeing more and more ACL tears in patients who are in their 40s and 50s.”

4. How important is the role of rehabilitation in sports medicine?

“The patients who spend the time on rehabilitation do the best. Rehabilitation is extremely important when treating an injury or post-surgery.”

5. What are the most common surgeries you perform in your practice?

“Consistent with injuries I see, meniscus and ACL reconstruction through a knee scope, rotator cuff repair, labral repair and biceps tenodesis (moving the tendon from the socket to the ball) through the scope – which is sort of a newer concept. This consists of taking the bicep from its normal attachment and moving it to a position on the ball. This procedure is starting to be seen by leading shoulder experts as a major way of treating anterior shoulder pain.”

6. What are the biggest advancements in sports medicine you have seen over the past 10 years?

“Not that there’s anything wrong with bigger incisions but the biggest advancement is how many surgeries we can perform through very small incisions. Rehab and pain management and instrumentation have come a long way along with the techniques. Now a lot of treatments and surgeries are done with small incisions and through an arthroscope.”

7. You have been honored for your volunteer work with high school athletes.  What do you find most rewarding about working with young athletes?

“The most rewarding part of working with the younger athletes is that they really want to get better. The kids I see in high school athletics tell me exactly what is wrong and are willing to listen to the doctor. Kids are more willing to listen and give something a try, whether it’s therapy or a treatment plan.”

8. What is your favorite part of your medical practice and why?

“The group itself at OAZ is great. It was daunting to find a place to work after residency, but I knew a couple of reps in the area that worked at OAZ and they all had positive things to say. It’s rare to find a practice that brings in a new partner and treats them as a colleague from the very beginning.”

9. You mentioned that you’re an avid sports fan. Which sports and which teams are your personal favorites?

“The Cincinnati Bengals, Reds and, anyone growing up in Ohio, loves the Buckeyes. I enjoy OSU basketball and think March Madness is one of the purest moments in sports. It’s just unspoiled sportsmanship.”

With the start of the Ohio school year right around the corner, many high school students will be participating in fall sports. The physicians at Orthpaedic Associates of Zanesville want to make sure the upcoming sports season is injury free.

One of the best ways to prevent injury is to listen to your body – for example, by drinking plenty of water and sports drinks during hot weather. In other cases, what you do in response to an injury can make a difference in how quickly you recover.

Here are some of the most common sports injuries, along with ways to prevent them.

Soccer injuries and prevention

The most common soccer injuries are:

• Sprains and strains to the lower extremities – Cartilage tears, ACL sprains in the knee, fractures and contusions
• Overuse of lower extremities – Shin splints, Patellar tendinitis, Achilles tendinitis and stress fractures
• Upper extremity injuries – Wrist sprains, wrist fractures and shoulder dislocations
• Head, neck and face injuries – Cuts, bruises, fractures, neck sprains, and concussions

Most soccer injuries can be treated quickly and efficiently. However, it is important to stop playing immediately if an injury occurs.

Injuries from overuse should be treated with rest. Typically, the young athlete can still participate if he or she has this type of injury, but he or she will need to learn to modify exercise routines. Other injuries, such as stress fractures, knee ligament injuries, or head or neck injuries require rest as well as medical attention.

To prevent soccer injuries, it is important to wear properly fitting cleats and shin guards, be aware of field conditions, use a properly sized ball, hydrate properly and maintain a proper fitness level. To prevent overuse injuries from getting worse, it’s important to stop or reduce activity, returning to full activity only gradually.

Volleyball injuries and prevention

There are six common volleyball injuries in addition to the typical sprains, strains and shin splints. These include rotator cuff tendinopathy, suprascapular neuropathy, hand injuries, patellar tendinitis, ankle sprains and back injuries.

• Rotator cuff tendinopathy – As we discussed in the Tennis blog post, rotator cuff muscles are stressed when the arm is poised above the head. In volleyball the player serves and plays using repeated overhead movements. If the athlete feels a sudden sharp pain the shoulder, this could be a ruptured tendon; but if the pain is more gradual, the rotator cuff could be inflamed.
• Suprascapular neuropathy – This condition occurs when the nerve running along the top of the shoulder blade becomes compressed.
• Hand injuries – These injuries happen most often when a player attempts to block a spiked ball. Sprains and strains are the most common volleyball hand injuries followed by fractures, contusions and dislocations.
• Patellar Tendinitis – This is a common over-use injury resulting from pain on or below the kneecap. Extreme stresses, like jumping, are the most common cause. Patellar tendinitis can lead to inflammation and degeneration of the tissue.
• Ankle sprains – The most common ankle injury is a sprain. A sprain occurs when an athlete’s ligaments are stretched or torn. There are three degrees of sprains, as you can read here. Reduce swelling from sprains by using R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression, elevation). Protect the ankle by wrapping or taping it; then rest the ankle and, if necessary, see a sports injury specialist.
• Back injuries – Athletes’ backs are often strained from jumping, bending and twisting.

The practice of Yoga is growing in popularity within the United States, as more people realize its many mental and physical benefits. Yoga is known to improve mood, reduce stress and anxiety, and increase the body’s metabolism. Practitioners gain greater flexibility and range of motion, increased strength and better circulation, while achieving a sense of inner peace.

Even with the calming and relaxing properties of Yoga, practitioners need to be aware that it is a form of exercise and knee injuries can occur. One of the most common Yoga injuries is to the knee.

Anyone with preexisting knee issues should be especially careful when practicing Yoga. However, you can still enjoy the practice of Yoga. Instructors can offer modified poses that reduce stress on the joints, while still being very effective.

When it comes to balancing postures in Yoga, be sure always to have support, whether that comes from a block or prop. During balancing postures, the exercise strengthens the knee if the leg is slightly bent. If your knee is inflamed, avoid the balancing postures and ask an instructor for some modified balancing posture options.

Even though you should be cautious with some Yoga poses, there are ones that strengthen the hamstring muscles and are actually good for the knee. These include chair pose, downward facing dog and uttanasana.

Chair pose helps to strengthen the vital muscles in the knees, while downward facing dog stretches the hamstrings, calf muscles and Achilles tendons. It is a great pose to strengthen the back leg muscles. More advanced Yoga students can experience a deeper level of stretch by bending one knee at a time.

Uttanasana is a standing forward bend that also stretches the back leg muscles. If hamstrings are really tight, practitioners are advised to keep the knees slightly bent. Just like downward facing dog, you can alternate bending one knee at a time for a deeper stretch. The physicians at Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville remind everyone that before starting a Yoga practice, it’s important to speak to an instructor about your general fitness level, flexibility and any injuries or limitations you may have. If you are recovering from joint surgery or physical therapy, ask your physician his or her opinion before starting Yoga.